Popple Dungeon bridge reopening set for Sept. 5 Construction firm had sought three to five weeks more time

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The replacement for the culvert bridge across the south branch of the Williams River a little over 3 miles out on Popple Dungeon Road has been under construction since early June and was due to reopen this weekend.

But Alpine Construction was pouring concrete for abutment #2 on Tuesday. That pour was scheduled for mid-July and Alpine has asked the town for more time — three and five weeks.

According to Chester Town Manager Julie Hance, after consultation with both design and construction engineers and VTrans representatives, she gave Alpine two weeks with a drop dead date of Monday Sept. 5 to reopen the road although some finishing work will continue after that. Hance said that the town will not be paying any more for the extra time.

Below is the schedule for finishing the construction and reopening the road.

• Aug. 16: Abutment #2 wall concrete placement and start the 7-day cure
• Aug. 23: Cure period ends, backfilling the abutment begins — assume 3 days for backfill
• Aug. 26: Backfill process ends, rip rap installation (under the bridge) begins
• Aug. 29: Rip rap installation ends
• Aug. 31 to Sept. 2: Receive and install precast bridge deck
• Sept. 5: Install road base, Jersey barriers and open the road